Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey is a UK period drama that ran from 2010-2015 on ITV in the UK, and as a series on the United States anthology series, Masterpiece, on PBS. The series, starring Academy Award winning actress Dame Maggie Smith (Gosford Park; The Harry Potter series; Sister Act/Sister Act 2; The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), is created and written by Julian Fellowes, who wrote Gosford Park. When it was first devised, it was slated to be a spin-off of Gosford Park, but it was later decided to be a stand-alone property which had been inspired by the movie. Maggie Smith played Constance, the Countess of Trentham, a character similar to her role in Downton Abbey. The series takes place at the eponymous Downton Abbey, a large castle estate and park located in the fictional village of Downton, which was located in the North Yorkshire region of England; and focuses on the Crawley family and their numerous servants. Some scenes were shot at the real life Highclere Castle, located in the town of Highclere in Berkshire. The series was modeled on and inspired by another ITV (and later BBC) series, Upstairs, Downstairs, in which the premise was similar, a wealthy family and their interactions with their numerous servants. Heading the family is Violet Crawley, the dowager Countess of Grantham (Smith), whose son, Lord Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) is the current Earl of Grantham. She also has an older daughter, Lady Rosamond Painswick (Samantha Bond) who was widowed and lived in Belgrave Square in London. The family also own two other properties aside from the Abbey; Downton Place in Scotland and Grantham House in London, where they live when they are in the city for the season. After thirty years of being the chatelaine of Downton, and after the death of her husband, the father of Robert and Rosamond, Violet still lives nearby the main house in the Dower house. Robert is married to American-born heiress Cora Levinson (Elizabeth McGovern) and has three beautiful daughters, Mary (Michelle Dockery); Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay); and Edith (Laura Carmichael). Mary, the eldest, had a hard time finding love, and at first, was a very hard-hearted woman, but until the death of her lover, Kemal Pamuk, she unbent and became a lot nicer. She and Edith had a lot of animosity towards one another, although they did try to get along. Middle daughter Edith, often left behind due to being between Mary and Sybil, was an enterprising woman who also had the bad habit of making some pretty bad decisions; Sybil, the youngest, was very much a suffragette, as well as being one of the sweetest people imaginable. She loved to help anyone out, be they family or servants. Also living with them (in season Four) was Violet's great niece, Lady Rose MacClare (Lily James), the daughter of Lord and Lady Flintshire. Susan MacClare (Phoebe Nicholls), who was Violet's niece, was Rose's mother, and Hugh MacClare, Lord Flintshire (Peter Egan) was her father. He was known as "Shrimpie" (due to the nickname being attached to him by his sisters) and was quite helpful to the Crawley family due to his work in the Foreign Office in London. Susan, however, was a very bitter woman who resented her husband and her family. Besides, Rose, the youngest, their other children were James, the Earl of Newtonmore; and Annabelle. She was always miserable and when she made someone else miserable, she would be happy. She would aggravate Cora by stealing her lady's maid. Lady Rose would later marry Lord Ephraim Atticus Aldridge, the Jewish son of Lord and Lady Sinderby. Due to some conniving by the selfish Susan, Rose's marriage was nearly sunk, but thanks to Shrimpie, the plan was foiled and Rose never knew that her own mother had tried to demolish her marriage. However, Shrimpie knew what his soon-to-be ex-wife had done to Atticus, (she bribed a tart and tried to have her seduce Atticus, but it failed) and let her have it for her chicanery. The nasty Susan was not about to be stopped, though. She then tried to destroy the wedding by announcing that she and Shrimpie were divorcing, which angered Lord Sinderby, who was very much against divorce. To stop this foolishness, Lady Sinderby threatened to leave Lord Sinderby if he dared to stop the wedding. Despite the shenanigans of Lord Sinderby and Lady Flintshire, the wedding went on without a hitch. Robert and his older sister had grown up at Downton and knew the village and its people well. The fortune was entailed in the land, and was tied into Cora's fortune. Robert originally married Cora for her money, but as time grew on, he clearly and very deeply fell in love with her. As Cora hadn't given birth to a son (she would get pregnant later on, but she would lose the baby due to a deliberate trap set up by her lady's maid), the male heir was his cousin, Patrick and his son, James, who was engaged to Mary, who didn't really love him, but was engaged to him, because Edith was more in love with him, and she did it to mainly stick it to Edith. However, in the premiere episode, it was revealed that both had perished in the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The next heir was a distant third cousin once removed, solicitor Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), who, along with his widowed mother, Isobel (Penelope Wilton), a woman who came from a medical family, moved to Downton from Manchester, and became a part of the family's lives. For a number of years, Violet and Cora did not get along, because the former was against her son marrying the latter, and then making matters worse by tying Downton into her wealth (something her husband, Robert's father, had done). But by series end, Violet and Cora finally bury the hatchet, and the dowager countess finally agrees that Cora is now the Lady Grantham. Also, Violet and Isobel didn't start off on the right foot either, due to their constant trying to one up one another; but as the series progressed, they become friends and constant companions, although they still squabbled at times. The show focused as well on the lives of the servants, who served the Crawleys, below stairs. Headed by Mr. Charles Carson (Jim Carter) and Mrs. Elsie Hughes (Phyllis Logan), the butler and housekeeper respectively (they would marry in the final season), the servant crew included Thomas Barrow (Rob James-Collier); the scheming first footman/valet/under butler, a gay man who hid his pain about being unable to live as a gay man (at that time, homosexuality was still a crime in the UK) beneath a cold façade; yet he has his redeeming values, mainly a sincere love and compassion for the children of the Crawley family and Ms. O'Brien (Siobhan Finneran), the lady's maid, who was at first Thomas's partner in scheming (she was the one who injured Cora and made her miscarry her baby), but later turned against him. In Season Four, Ms. O'Brien left in the dark of night, having been hired out of Downton by Lady Flintshire, which angered Cora, but Robert was glad to see her leave, as he did not like her. Succeeding O'Brien as ladies maid were Edna Braithwaite (MyAnna Buring), who had worked there before as a housemaid, and had been sacked when she attempted to seduce and blackmail Tom into marriage; and Phyllis Baxter (Raquel Cassidy), the third Lady's maid who, despite her criminal past, which she revealed to Cora, was retained because she did a wonderful job (Baxter, realizing her lady's American background, would often bring her a glass of fresh-squeezed Orange Juice). She would remain through the end of the series. Other servants included Alfred Nugent (Matt Milne) a footman who was not well liked by Thomas, due to him being O'Brien's nephew. He would leave service to get a job as a chef in London. Another senior member of the staff was Mrs. Beryl Patmore (Lesley Nicol); the long time cook who had a short temper and always looked frazzled, but as the series progressed, became more kinder; Daisy Robinson (Sophie McShera), the first kitchen maid who later became the assistant cook and a good friend of Mrs. Patmore, whom she loved like a mother; William Mason (Thomas Howes), the second footman who fell in love with Daisy and would eventually marry her, only to die of his war injuries; James "Jimmy" Kent (Ed Speleers), William's replacement as second footman who was the target of a one-sided crush by Thomas, but would later on become good friends; he would be sacked later on after being discovered in bed with his former employer, Lady Anstruther; Ivy Stuart (Cara Theobald) Daisy's replacement as Kitchen maid when the former becomes Mrs. Patmore's assistant; she would leave to take a job as a cook for Cora's brother in America; John Bates (Brendan Coyle), the former batman of Robert Crawley, and the bane of Thomas's existence, who would become Robert's valet, to Thomas' fury; Gwen Harding (Rose Leslie), a housemaid who left service, became a secretary and would later marry a successful businessman; Ethel (Amy Nuttall), Gwen's replacement as maid, who herself was out of a job, when she was caught in bed with a wounded soldier, and had his baby; and Anna Smith (Joanne Froggatt), the head house parlor maid (later Lady Mary's lady's maid) who would marry Bates. Also featured was Joseph Molesley (Kevin Doyle), who was introduced as Matthew's butler and valet, but after his master died, he divided his time between the Abbey and Isobel's house. He would later supplement his income at Downton by becoming a teacher at the village school. Making recurring appearances were Miss Gladys Denker (Sue Johnston) and Mr. Septimus Spratt (Jeremy Swift), who were the Lady's maid and butler, respectively of the Dowager Countess. (Violet's previous ladies maids were Simmons and Smithers) They were respectful to one another but did not get along at all. They would quibble over many things with each trying to sometimes undermine the other in a continual game of oneupmanship. Spratt, besides being a butler, worked as a columnist for Lady Edith at her magazine, The Sketch; while Denker was more or less a troublemaker, causing no end of grief for the family. When Denker tried to sink Spratt for his moonlighting, the Dowager Countess, so amused by his writing was she, thwarted Denker's scheme, and happily retained him as a butler, stating that she would go to him in future for advice. Richard Grey, Lord Merton (Douglas Reith), Mary's godfather, also made quite a number of appearances, having to deal with his crass son, Larry Grey (Charlie Anson), who it seemed had NO sense of manners and was hell-bent on making life troublesome for the denizens of Downton Abbey. Also involved in the family was Tom Branson (Allen Leech), who started out as the family's chauffeur in the first season, replacing their former chauffeur, Taylor, but he, much like Gwen did, later became a part of the upstairs family by marrying Sybil. She gave birth to the first Crawley grandchild, Sybil the second (nicknamed Sybbie), but sadly, Sybil died as a result of pre-eclampsia, which was misdiagnosed by Dr. Clarkson (David Robb), the head physician of Downton Cottage Hospital. During the aggravated pregnancy, Clarkson had a battle of wills with Sir Phillip Tapsall, a OB/GYN from London, and the battles nearly tore the family right down the middle. Tom had a tough time of it. As if having to adjust to being from Downstairs to Upstairs was not bad enough, he was having to deal with Larry Grey, who tried to humiliate him one time at dinner. (Larry resented the idea of Sybil and Tom being together, since he had once had his eye on her.) The jealous Larry had dropped a pill in Tom's drink, making him drunk. After Sir Anthony Strallan, a paramour of Edith's, exposed Larry's despicable prank, Tom found himself being defended by the entire family, including Violet. Lord Merton, disgusted by his son's vulgarity, (he had insulted Tom by calling him a lowly chauffeur) summarily denounced him in public for his bad manners. Tom gained allies in Matthew, who named him his best man, and in Mary, as she relied on him during and after Matthew's death. After a time, Tom acquires a job in Boston, thanks to a cousin, and he and Sybbie leave Downton, but during the final season, Tom realizes that his home is Downton, and Sybbie needs to be with her family. They both return at the marriage of beloved servants, Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes, to the joy and relief of everyone, both above and below stairs. Tom again becomes the land agent for Downton, and Sybbie is back with her family and they thrive. Matthew would later marry Mary; after an engagement to a woman named Lavinia Swire (Zoe Boyle), who died of Spanish Flu, but he would die himself in a terrible car accident. She gave birth to their son, George Crawley, who would become the heir presumptive to Downton Abbey. At first, Mary was only content to let a nanny take care of her son, but after grieving her husband (crying in the arms of her father figure, Carson, the butler), she takes more of a hand in raising her son. She also becomes the half-heir of Downton (thanks to Matthew's letter which was considered a will), and begins to work with Tom, bonding a solid friendship with her brother in-law. She later remarries marrying wealthy Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode), the nephew of family friend, Lady Shackelton. Tom, who had been best man at her first wedding, was also best man for her second marriage. Edith, due to her affair with a man named Michael Gregson, who had perished in Germany at the hands of the infamous Brown Coats (members of the Nazi party), had a child named Marigold, who had been raised by one of the estate's tenant farmers, and would later join the fold. After the family left (following a failed kidnapping of Marigold by the disturbed wife of the farmer), Daisy's father in-law, Mr. Mason, would move to the farm. Edith would later marry the newly minted Marquis of Hexham, Herbert Pelham (Harry Haden-Paton), giving Marigold a new father. The enterprising Edith also owned a publishing company which had been willed to her by the late Michael. She gains a close friend and ally in her newly hired editor, Laura Edmunds (Antonia Bernath). The three cousins, Sybbie Branson, George Crawley and Marigold Gregson were all near the same age, and all three had lost at least one of their parents (George and Marigold had both lost their fathers, Matthew and Michael, respectively; and Sybbie had lost her mother, her namesake, Sybil). This bonded the three cousins and made them as close as siblings. The children also had a friend in the usually scheming under-butler Thomas Barrow, who loved them ever since they were babies (plus due to the close bond that Thomas had with Sybil and Mary). In fact, it was Thomas who had shown his protective side when he had a woman named Nanny West (Di Botcher) fired because of her nasty way of treating little Sybbie. Thomas did not like Nanny West and made that point clear, but this time it was because he was more concerned for the welfare of the children, although he did not like her personally either. He would not take her instructions to the rest of the servants, and that caused her to get angry at him. She would tend to leave the children alone while she was doing other things, and that was enough for him to let Cora know what she was up to She clearly favored baby George and had no liking for Sybbie, due to the fact that she was the daughter of the former chauffeur. In fact, she had called the child a "wicked little cross-breed" (because she was half-Irish, on her father's side) and unfortunately for her, Cora overheard her. A furious Cora, who because of her American upbringing had been more of a hands-on mother when the girls were younger, and was the same way with her grandchildren, fired her instantly and watched her grandchildren that night until a new Nanny, one who was more nicer to the children was engaged. Cora later praised Thomas for his helpfulness. Upon Marigold becoming part of the family, Thomas included her along with George and Sybbie. Sybbie had a nickname for her grandfather, Robert. She called him "Donk". The name came from when they played a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Robert wasn't sure what to make of the nickname, but the rest of the family, even the Dowager Countess, found it amusing that Sybbie would call him, Donk. He got used to it and even embraced it. George bonded easily with Thomas, who would gladly stop whatever work he was doing and give the young man a piggy back ride. When Thomas tried to commit suicide (after taking some medical treatments to make him straight), George, along with Mary, came to see him. The little boy gave his favorite servant an orange as a gift to help him feel better. During a dinner with Neville Chamberlain, Robert had a medical situation where an ulcer had burst, which had him go to the hospital. This also forced him to quit drinking wine, as that had aggravated the ulcer. With that, he also couldn't keep charge of the estate, reluctantly allowing Mary and Tom to take full control. While he was kept in the loop, he also knew that it was time for Mary and Tom to put their imprint on the estate. The final episode of the series showed many changes in the lives of everyone, both above and below stairs. Thomas, who had become less manipulative and scheming, especially after his failed suicide attempt, left Downton to work at another house, but realized he was better off at Downton, and would later be taken on again, this time as butler after the medically forced retirement of Carson, who had developed palsy; Daisy would move out of the abbey house and move to the new farm where her father in-law lived and she would gain a suitor in Andy (Michael Fox), the footman and laborer on the farm, she also dropped any objections towards Mrs. Patmore and her father in-law being together, realizing that both of them loved her very much and had her best interests in mind; Anna and John Bates, happy at last, would finally have a baby (a son, who was born in Lady Mary's room); Mr. Molesley and Miss Baxter would grow closer and the former would gain more responsibility as a teacher at the Downton school and getting a new cottage as a result, which would mean he was leaving service entirely; Tom would become interested in Edith's new friend and editor, Laura Edmunds; Violet and Cora would finally part as friends, as the former finally realized that Cora was the new countess of Grantham after a very prolonged fight over the independence of Downton Cottage Hospital; Isobel would finally accept the engagement of Lord Merton even in the face of total opposition by Larry and his equally snobbish new wife Amelia (she would become Lady Merton in the Series finale); and at New Year's of 1926, Edith would finally be married to Herbert Pelham, the new Marquis of Hexham, and revealed to everyone, including his mother, that Marigold was her daughter, by the late Michael. Her new mother in-law was won over by her honesty. During the throwing of the bouquet, it was Laura, Edith's friend and editor, who caught it, which signaled that she was interested in the widowed Tom. Also making guest appearances (in the third season) was veteran actress Shirley MacLaine, who played Martha Levinson, the widowed (and outspokenly American) mother of Cora, (and Mary, Edith and Sybil's grandmamma) who clearly knew how to get under the skin of the Dowager Countess; and (in season four) Paul Giamatti as Cora's brother, Harold Levinson, an irresponsible playboy who was so enthralled with Daisy's cooking, that he had wanted her to move to America to work for him as his cook. Daisy declined the offer, thinking of her "family" (Mrs. Patmore and Mr. Mason), and generously suggesting Ivy, the kitchen maid, as her replacement. The series was shown on PBS as a part of the anthology, Masterpiece Classics, and, like its predecessor, Upstairs, Downstairs, was well received in the States, having won several Golden Globe awards in its airing in America. Dame Maggie Smith (Violet Crawley) also won two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild award for her role as the irrepressible Dowager Countess. Also winning an award was Joanne Froggatt (Anna Smith Bates). The show was unique as the lady of the house was American born (unlike the British born Lady Marjorie Bellamy, the Welsh-born Lady Agnes Holland; or the Scottish-born Viscountess Virginia Hamilton Bellamy of Upstairs, Downstairs) and the setting was in the Northern Yorkshires area of England, as opposed to London, although some action took place there. Principal Cast * HUGH BONNEVILLE -- Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham * ELIZABETH MCGOVERN -- Cora Levinson Crawley, the Countess of Grantham * SAMANTHA BOND -- Lady Rosamond Crawley Painswick * MAGGIE SMITH -- Violet Crawley, The Dowager Countess of Grantham * MICHELLE DOCKERY -- Lady Mary Crawley Talbot * LAURA CARMICHAEL -- Lady Edith Crawley Pelham, the Marchioness of Hexham * JESSICA BROWN FINDLAY -- Lady Sybil Crawley Branson * PENELOPE WILTON -- Isobel Crawley Grey, the Countess of Merton * ALLEN LEECH -- Tom Branson * DAN STEVENS -- Matthew Crawley * MATTHEW GOODE -- Henry Talbot * HARRY HADEN-PATON -- Herbert Pelham, the Marquis of Hexham * JIM CARTER -- Charlie Carson * PHYLLIS LOGAN -- Elsie Hughes Carson * LESLEY NICOL -- Beryl Patmore * SOPHIE MCSHERA -- Daisy Robinson-Mason * THOMAS HOWES -- William Mason * ED SPELEERS -- James "Jimmy" Kent * ROBERT JAMES-COLLER -- Thomas Barrow * JOANNE FROGGATT -- Anna Smith Bates * KEVIN DOYLE -- Joseph Molesley * CARA THEOBOLD -- Ivy Stuart * BRENDAN COYLE -- John Bates * RAQUEL CASSIDY -- Phyllis Baxter * SIOBHAN FINNERAN -- Sarah O'Brien * MATT MILNE -- Alfred Nugent * DAVID ROBB -- Dr. Richard Clarkson * SHIRLEY MACLAINE -- Martha Levinson * PAUL GIAMATTI -- Harold Levinson * ZOE BOYLE -- Lavinia Swire * LILY JAMES -- Lady Rose MacClare Aldridge * MICHAEL FOX -- Andy Parker * ANTONIA BERNATH -- Laura Edmunds * PETER EGAN -- Hugh "Shrimpie" MacClaire, Lord Flintshire * PHOEBE NICHOLLS -- Susan MacClaire, Lady Flintshire * SUE JOHNSTON -- Gladys Denker * JEREMY SWIFT -- Septimus Spratt * AMY NUTTALL -- Ethel Parks * FIFI HART -- Sybil "Sybbie" Branson * OLIVER and ZACK BARKER -- George Crawley * EVA and KARINA SAMMS -- Marigold Gregson Category:Prime time soaps